Phantom of the Garden
by ShindouWS
Summary: Zell and Seifer together makes this a love story, while love and uncertainty make it horrifyingly twisted. And do they have any choice but to become the Phantom's preys?
1. Chapter 1: Devil May Care

**Disclaimer:** The story, plot, and some minor characters are mine. The rest are Square Enix's.

**Chapter 01:** Devil May Care

"When the day is through, I suffer no regret," said Zell, nodding his head in agreement to what he said.

Letting a puff of smoke out through her lips, Quistis quickly examined Zell's look before saying, "Quite unbecoming for someone who is going to be my fellow instructor in less than a week."

"No kidding," affirmed Zell, chuckling. "Conspiring the whole enactment of Seifer's second chance to be part of the Garden. Actually, most of the credits go to you, Quistis."

They went silent for a while, merely enjoying the tranquil environment the tavern they were in offered them. They were in Winhill, as well the Garden was. Quistis had proposed to Commander Squall that with the Garden's ability to fly the students would gain more battle experience by visiting places with different monsters than those they met around Balamb town. It was Winhill because Seifer worked there as a warden whose purpose was basically to keep the monsters away from the town; also, Zell and Quistis thought that it could be a great way to show the students how nonthreatening Seifer was now.

"You should stop smoking."

"I don't smoke," replied Quistis nonchalantly.

Zell pondered over what Quistis just said but discarded the matter after a couple of seconds. "Fine."

"So, should we settle the tab?" asked Quistis.

"Uh, what?"

"Yes, it's already eight AM. You said you had a plan with Seifer tonight."

"Uh, right." With that, Zell called the waiter to bring him the bill.

The waiter returned immediately with a tray and a bill on it, from which he then checked the amount and took several Gils from his wallet and put them on it. "I'll see you again tomorrow then."

"Sure, have fun," said Quistis, fixing her purse's strap on her right shoulder.

With that, Zell left the tavern to Seifer's place, which was a small abandoned house—actually too disheveled to be referred to as a house. Seifer had the money to buy a proper house, except no one let him stay too near to the residential area at first, and now although most of the citizens in the city no longer held any grudges towards him, he just felt that there would be too much hassle to move when he was already enjoying his current home.

"Knock knock," uttered Zell, knocking on Seifer's door with his left hand and opening it with the right one.

"Chicken wuss? You're right on time. I just finished making some noodle stew," said Seifer loudly from the kitchen, which was directly adjacent to the dining room, only separated by several oaken panels from the living room.

"Yay!" Zell uttered energetically, skipping towards the kitchen. "Where did you learn to cook from, Seif?"

"Local library. Borrowed some cooking books," answered Seifer, serving the stew in a large oval yellow glass bowl. "I substituted beef with Ochu's tentacles though."

"Are they edible? Aren't they poisonous?" asked Zell, glancing at thin slices of Ochu's tentacles in the stew.

"Domestic Ochus aren't poisonous. And trust me, they taste great," said Seifer. "Hyne, I'm such a mess." Walking toward the laundry basket, he pulled off his sweat-soaked, soil-covered, and Ochu's-blood-stained t-shirt and put it in. He took a fresh towel and wiped the sweat off his body, and then also put the towel also in the basket.

"Yeah, and I'm curious to how you cooked it. Doesn't seem to be a complicated dish." Zell gave Seifer a perplexed look.

"Out of gas, and it was already seven, so I had to run up and down all the slopes and unpaved paths to the shop to buy a heavy tube of gas—it wasn't a pleasant trip—I stumbled over a stone on my way back home; a huge stone that suddenly appeared right there with only one intention, to kill me—thank Hyne the tube didn't explode cause I swear I heard a loud thunk when it fell. And once I was home, I still had to prepare the ingredients before cooking them—clean the tentacles, chop them, and all. Anyway, let's eat."

Zell was nonplussed at the whole imagery of Seifer stumbling over a rock for a while before snapping back to reality.

"Uh, I should come earlier in the future so we could trade off and share the load," said Zell, who paused when he saw a bruise on Seifer's right collarbone; and erased was his doubt. "Does it still hurt?" asked Zell, pointing at Seifer's collarbone.

"Don't worry about it. And, we already do, in terms of giving and receiving," said Seifer in a teasing tone.

Zell cast Cure on the bruise and it looked significantly better now. "I don't think there's any places but the Garden or any monsters around to draw Cure from."

"Thanks. Now let's eat."

A while later they were already finished with their dinner when Zell said, "I have bad news."

"Which is?"

"Squall has agreed upon letting you go back to the Garden. You'll leave within this week. And I'll be the one to keep watch over you as well as a new instructor."

Seifer stopped washing the dishes for a moment in shock. "That's magnificent!" exclaimed Seifer in awe. "You know what? You've been really good to me, too good even."

"What sweet words you say. Well, I'll look forward to seeing you attend my future classes," said Zell, snickering, standing next to Seifer, close enough for him to smell Seifer's mixed reek. "Would you... hug me?" asked him, playing shy.

Seifer was so excited he hugged Zell immediately, forgetting about his unpleasant odor—only to realize it a while later. "Gross, now you smell just as bad as I."

"More the reason for me to shower with you."


	2. Chapter 2: Like the Sky

**Disclaimer:** The story, plot, and some minor characters are mine. The rest are Square Enix's.

**Chapter 02:** Like the Sky

**Note:** The next chapter might take a while before it comes out, cause I figure it will be quite long. I'd like to thank the great Mog for QC-ing this story, and Steve, who doesn't understand English but nonetheless keeps trying to read the horrible draft, which's otherwise written in the most beautiful hand--my hand.

What's the use of trying to look all dignified, especially while wearing all too big clothes on an all too lithe form in front of students who cannot help but talk about it among themselves? Although each piece was considered comfortable and supporting for his martial art's maneuvers, never since he started his career as an instructor two hours ago had Zell managed to feel comfortable. Yet what an opportunity.

"We'll meet again tomorrow at the same hour and place. Dismissed."

And so of course, 21 out of 22 of Zell's students left the classroom immediately; and there was only Seifer left in the classroom. Zell did not hesitate to exhale a great amount of his tension while packing all his books and other stationeries in his backpack. Done with packing his belongings, he sighed and pouted at Seifer.

"Turning sulky now, chickie?" asked Seifer, walking towards the door. "I wasn't any better either, if that makes you feel better."

"If they know how losing, or almost losing someone important to them feels like as much as they claim to do, logically I figure they should refrain from even thinking of harming you," Zell could not help but fret over Seifer as many of his classmates still showed hostility towards him. To be precise, Zell could not help but fret over so many things today. He learnt just today that all too big clothes were not very credible for an instructor to wear—either that or the students merely envied what it took Zell to wear what he liked in classes yet managed to act all dignified.

"I suggest you just wear your SeeD uniform temporarily until you get replacement for your instructor uniforms. A—and, that backpack; can I get you a briefcase later? I'm considering spending this nice day shopping in Balamb—need to restock some groceries," said Seifer, aware of how serious Zell was with his instruction career.

"Uh, sure, thanks a lot... though I can't go with you—gotta attend a boring meeting the Garden faculties have arranged in an hour. And I think I'll go get my clothes changed to my SeeD uniform now—wouldn't want it to be part of the meeting's discussion. I'll see you later." With that, Zell left Seifer in front of the fountain to the dormitories. On the way to the dormitories, he spent the time thinking if he really needed to wear things the way other accomplished instructors do, to behave like them, and to teach like them. 'I'm not comfortable with all that. Isn't there a way so I could wear my -Zell- instructor uniforms and be just myself and yet retain the fervent notion of teaching?' thought him.

The faculty's office was located on the second story, east from the classrooms. There were vases and pots holding different flowers and plants in the office; they looked to Zell responding to every word spoken in the meeting—they undulated. The meeting was finished only four hours after Zell had parted with Seifer. 'What a bore it was!' thought Zell aloud, yawning.

"Instructor Dincht," called Quistis, approaching him from her side of the office.

"Hey, 'sup, Instructor Trepe?"

"You see, I have trouble finding people of my caliber," said Quistis blatantly.

"You mean, to be your boyfriend?" asked Zell, surprised.

"Yes. In my life I have declined an array of men based on factors such as a missing required knowledge in dining out, a fashion sense unfitting for men, an inability to appreciate classical music, an addiction to video games, a different view from mine on lying to your partner, and a linguistic misstep."

"Are you ridiculing me?" asked Zell, now completely confused and feeling slightly shy.

"And there you are, contemplating your teaching performance based on factors just as reductive as aforementioned factors. Just relax and teach the way you think suits you best." With that, Quistis left Zell to catch Xu.

Zell secretly wished his lover were as tactful as Quistis was. 'I wonder if Seifer's still in Balamb town. It's already past school hours—maybe I should call—'

A troubled-looking cadet bumped up against him.

"Oh, uh, I'm so sorry. I-I'm in a hurry," stuttered the cadet. He stood up and ran along quickly to the men's room.

Frowning, Zell pulled his backpack upon his shoulder and found a navy woolen shawl. 'Must've fallen when he bumped into me.' Zell lifted the shawl and brought it with him to the men's room, which the cadet had entered.

It was then inside the lime-painted room that Zell felt a strange kind of power radiating from inside one of the stalls, although it was only for an instant. Zell put the shawl over his shoulders and took the chance to urinate against one of the urinals while waiting for the aforementioned cadet to finish his business and get out of his stall. To his surprise, he heard the rush of water from said stall soon after he had just started urinating. 'That's fast,' thought Zell.

The cadet came out and quickly recognized his shawl and the wearer as someone he had just bumped into.

"I would have liked my shawl to be returned to me."

"Yes, would you come here and take it off me?" Zell wondered how the toilet had made someone who seemed so cute only several minutes ago into an extremely acute one now.

The cadet hesitantly approached Zell, took the shawl off his shoulders, and wore it over his own neck.

"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?" asked Zell, now zipping his pants and afterwards flushed the urinal.

"I just came here as a transfer from Trabia Garden today," he answered, still standing nervously behind Zell.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Trabia Garden," he paused for a bit before continuing. "Why are you fidgeting? I might be an instructor, but I'm no monster. I'm Zell," he said, offering his hand only to pull it back quickly. "Sorry, I should've washed it first, eh."

"You're really that Zell?" asked him in awe. He only recognized the famous tattoo on Zell's left cheek after a second. "One of the six great SeeDs who defeated Ultimecia and saved the world!"

"Um, yeah. Though Rinoa and Irvine aren't SeeDs—Irvine's from Galbadia Garden. What's your name?"

"My name's Blake, Blake Fairton."


	3. Chapter 3: Un bel di

**Disclaimer: **The story, plot, and some minor characters are mine. The rest are Square Enix's.**  
**

**Chapter 03: **Un Bel Di

**Note:** This story hasn't been QC-ed, so, uh, no thanks to Mog. I decided to split what previously I thought would be Chapter 3 into two: Chapter 3 and 4, so this came out quite short. By the way, Un bel di is an all-time favourite aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera: Madama Butterfly. I made a sketch of Blake by the way: shindou(dot)alcidelic(dot)com(slash)Sketches(slash)blake002(dot)jpg

The whole beginning, as Blake inferred, was a week after his parents died in an accident, when he spent many days contemplating yet the most credible option to his future—he had to put aside many things he liked to do, some of them things he had always given his all to: music and computers, the rest things he did to cover his loneliness: surfing the Intarweb, watching television, playing video games, and reading magazines and novels for he had to work in order to continue his life. It was not easy for him to think about it; plus, to even his modest measure, the income and what experience he might gain were not worth the hours he would suffer by working. Never in his life before he conceived that he might end up working in a cheap bar as a bartender, or as a cashier in a disc store, or even in the streets as a prostitute—in the end, he did consider the latter choice—it actually struck his mind as something challenging. However, at the same day Blake happened to listen to a song he had long forgotten about and was really moved by its melody and words, which were as following:  
_One fine day, we'll notice  
A thread of smoke arising  
On the far horizon above the sea  
And then the ship appeared._  
And thus the only thing he became very sure of was that he wanted to continue his life so that somehow, someday he might achieve what many he had always wanted to; and for that possibility, he would work.

Blake settled himself on one of the benches inside the Garden. Arm joints pressed against thighs, chin cupped between palms, he watched the glimmering water topple from the statues into the pool in front of him, each splash reminding him of screams that proceeded and explosions that succeeded each time a missile hit the ground in Trabia Garden. He dared to ask himself a question that he dared not answer positively: whether it was as beautiful as this fountain was. Nonetheless, he was perfectly aware that he hated it and its culprits for what bodily damage it had caused him, not quite for how many lives it had taken off. For many weeks he was hospitalized after the mishap; and during so, he was absorbed into thinking how life had ended for him—how impossible already it would be for him to remedy his foil—to recuperate to the times when he still had friends.

However, not long after, he met an old sorceress who had always concealed her power for decades and eventually gained her trust to inherit her sorcery power. She also taught him how to conceal his burn mark with Transfiguration magic—which, after he did his first successful trial, he used constantly upon himself.

'What does it matter now? Stay strong and enjoy what this world gives you—friends, good looks, power, et al,' thought Blake, smiling and gazing about desultorily. 'I'll be having a para-magic class tomorrow. Hmm, but maybe I should work my sorcery skills for a bit instead—it's already past midnight after all, no one should be in the Training Center.'

The Training Center was originally a lush small forest monster-inhabited only by carnivorous plants: Grats, and T-Rexaurs, both of which the students battled against to practice. However, the committee decided to diversify the types of monster by introducing Anacondaurs and Grendels into the habitat. There had been rumors saying that the technicians at Fisherman Horizon might build an artificial snowy habitation system in a part of the Training Center to shelter monsters that could only survive under cold climate, which they were currently researching.

Knowing no one was around, Blake busied himself by exterminating monsters strictly with only his sorcery power and examining them for their subtle weaknesses and behaviours. He projected his palm in the direction of a Grendel, sending his force-based hand copy near the monster's neck and squeezed it powerfully, making the monster discharge blood out of its mouth and die in an instant. It was one of his most favourite killing techniques that he himself developed—its only drawback, as he insisted, was the extreme amount of concentration required to project the magic hand. Force magic was, like Adel, his ace, alongside Transfiguration magic.

Suddenly, Blake was surrounded two T-Rexaurs and an Anacondaur. He was never good at dodging or attacking with a pair of short swords, despite being his weapon of choice; and his sorcery power was already at its usage quota. He believed that he could survive the battle if he used his skills wisely—and so he did. He knocked down the Grendel; whereupon, due to his poor movement, one of the T-Rexaurs was able to bite him on the shoulder. He then cast Aero to repel the monster. To his surprise, the other T-Rexaur was already right behind him, whipping him with its tail, causing him to fly and land heavily against the other T-Rexaur's body.

Quickly pulling himself together, Blake jumped away, cautiously chose his location, and put on his stance. He was about to cause mass destruction in the Training Hall with all the remaining sorcery power he had until another student came to help him. Unfortunately, soon enough it came to Blake's realization that his rescuer did not have what it took to withstand even just one T-Rexaur. Also, he was aware that his Transfiguration's effect would wear out anytime soon.

"Go away!" yelled Blake at the other student while trying to dodge, sensing the rapid vanishing of his Transfiguration's effect.

The other student said nothing and only continued his attempt to knock his opponent down.

"Alright then, stay focused! Don't look behind you!" said Blake, knowing his Transfiguration's effect had completely vanished and yet the other student stayed still and pejorative in spite of his state.

Frustrated, Blake decided to use his sorcery power, hoping that it would end this quickly. He also hoped that the other student would not turn around and see him perform his magic nor see his terrifying appearance. He held his right hand up, concentrated his remaining power into it, forming hundreds of Force missiles.

Just as Blake was going to launch them, the other student, who was curious of the sudden high pressure that came round him from Blake, turned himself around. He lost grip of his weapon and gasped.

"M-m-m-monster!" he uttered loudly.

Instinctively, Blake propelled the Force missiles at the other student.

Blood discharged wildly from all over the body of Blake's intending rescuer. The T-Rexaurs, having able to sense how dangerous their former prey had become, ran away.

'If I leave him here, the monsters will eventually come to consume parts of his body, and the real cause of death will be concealed.'

Blake immediately cast Cura upon his wounds and ran off of the Training Center to the Dormitories.

'What have I done? What have I done?' he asked himself, shaking in tears as his good conscience returned.

_That guy has killed everyone else in his sight but me. He looks like about my age, but his smile shows how incomparable our pasts were. Do I want to try to understand the plight of someone who has killed my friends? I might get killed. I'm scared.  
Do I have to run when I know that he has hold me prisoner? Do I have to struggle knowing I've seen him kill all of my friends in a matter of seconds?  
My friends died in front of me—so why hasn't it incited me to appreciate my life?  
And what is this beautiful place? The meadows stretched like a multi-colored carpet; the wind scattered the swift parade of clouds; and no one is here. Where has everyone suddenly gone to? Oh, look, over there in the distance—the murderer is sitting near the sparkling river.  
I approached him. I hugged him from behind._

"Mmh," mumbled Zell, half-awake.

"Your face is red. You seem to be having a fever," said Seifer, stroking backwards the locks of hair that fell on Zell's face and placed the palm on his forehead. "Quite hot."

Zell smiled at the affection. It was the first time he felt someone caress his head since over a decade ago.

"What time is it now?" asked Zell.

"Seven AM. I suggest you go see Doctor Kadowaki before class, knowing well you won't take a break from teaching regardless of whatever I'm going to say," said Seifer in a frustrated manner. "Now move it!"

"You disrupted my dream." 'But I can already see how my day will turn out—I know I'll be happy all day long!'

Seifer was going to say something when an announcement came up. "All Garden faculty are to gather in Training Center immediately. I repeat: All Garden faculty are to gather in Training Center immediately."

"In Training Center? What happened?" asked Zell, getting up from his bed.

"I don't know. Some slow-witted cadet died fighting a T-Rexaur?" said Seifer, smirking.

"You shouldn't joke about it. Mmm, I'm kinda hungry, but I gotta be in Training Center immediately. So, could you grab a hot dog or two for me, and a cup of cappuccino—no, a cup of orange juice, please?" asked Zell, changing his clothes to his instructor uniform.

"Yeah, sure—just don't get used to having me run errands for you," said Seifer, grooming Zell's hair—it made Zell blush a little, not enough for Seifer to notice.

"Okay, thanks! I'll see you later then!" With that, Zell pecked Seifer and proceeded toward the Training Center.


	4. Chapter 4: Tequila Mockingbird

**Disclaimer:** The story, plot, and some minor characters are mine. The rest are Square Enix's.**  
**

**Chapter 04:** Tequila Mockingbird

**Note:** This chapter hasn't been QC-ed either, so if you notice any inconsistent facts, grammatical errors, etc, please feel free to tell me. This chapter didn't come out as long as I imagined, actually laughs. Many thanks to the nice reviews. Now on to the story. Enjoy!

The whole Garden was in tumult as news about the death of a cadet named Rawdon Cecile spread about the entire place like wild fire; and to their amusement, almost each one of them had tried to make up one or more possible causes of death with died from battling against a T-Rexaur being the most famous. Even SeeD members and Garden faculty had also decided to settle the matter with the same conclusion and agreed to schedule several SeeD members to patrol the place every night, not to mention also to inform the victim's family.

"If Zell doesn't come out." Bringing a hot dog, a cup of orange juice, and a cup of coffee inside two small paper bags, Seifer paced about before the entrance of Training Center, glancing once in a while past a Garden faculty member, who disallowed anyone to enter the place until the meeting finished, glancing to see if Zell had finished the meeting. The extent to which he was compelled to wait, as Seifer insisted, proportionally vouched how much he loved Zell. "If Zell doesn't come out—"

"Yo, Seif!" called Zell, eyes set at the paper bags. "The hotdog's gone cold?"

"Well, I wonder," Seifer mused, giving the bag containing the hot dog to Zell. "I suppose it has—I've been waiting here for almost an hour."

"I'm sorry about that. I'll make it up to you," said Zell, taking the content out.

"That's just like you to eat a hotdog for breakfast," said Quistis, passing by the couple.

"Wait, Quistis," called Zell impulsively.

"Yes?" Quistis asked, turning round to face Zell.

"We've fought T-Rexaurs for Hyne knows how much! I daresay he didn't die fighting a T-Rexaur—there were too many holes, stab scars spread out in different vital places compared to bite marks to conclude so," said Zell.

"I know—his body looked like it was shot by a Gatling Gun, although we didn't find any bullets. There is just not enough evidence to form a conclusion," replied Quistis.

"Reminds me of your blue magic Gatling Gun," muttered Seifer, smirking.

"What are you implying?" asked Quistis nonchalantly, throwing her face leftward, facing Seifer.

"Just stating the obvious," said Seifer, raising his left eyebrow.

"Cut it out, you two. Oh well, there's no point in pondering about it now," said Zell. "Just to be safe, I suggest you guys to be more cautious. I know I'm not supposed to fret about it—we're all level nineties fighters equipped with the best weapons—it'd take more than an Omega Weapon to beat us and all, but I just have a bad feeling about this. Just be careful."

It was unusual of Zell to feel endangered by something that he himself was not sure of. Nonetheless, now that Zell had warned them, Seifer and Quistis could not help but became more alert, especially after seeing the dead body of a Rawdon Cecile—holes all over his body, the contents of his stomach sprawled, and both arms gone.

Zell had Cerberus, Bahamut, and Eden junctioned onto him, and his Ergheiz—the latest, and, so far, the best gloves—allowed him to use his ultimate Duel skill My Final Heaven; Quistis had Carbuncle, Siren, Alexander, and Ventura junctioned onto her—Ventura was a six-pair-winged, man-like, non-elemental GF she encountered in the Deep-Sea Research Facility during Time Compression, and her Blue Magic Shockwave Pulsar itself could mass-destruct the entire lifeforms inside Training Center in one blow; and Seifer had Leviathan, Tiamat, and Krysta junctioned onto him, and had had his Gunblade remodeled into its latest version, Providion, which allowed him to use the Holy-based Limit Break Heaven Judgment—if not for his rebellious nature, he would have been a SeeD member since a long time ago. Obviously, all these parameters showed but how extremely difficult it seemed to even lay a scratch on any of them.

"Well, I had a strange dream last night—it's sweet and scary at once—it's vivid," said Zell, taking advantage of the momentary respite, while Quistis was already headed over the way out. "I can't remember the face, but I was facing a guy who'd killed everyone in his sight but me."

"Did you win?" asked Seifer, taking the first step to leave the Training Center, for, obviously, he saw no more reason for them to stay inside it.

"Well, you disrupted my dream," said Zell, unwilling to admit what happened next. "I only remember I was scared."

"It's not like you to get scared. It's just a dream though. Now let's take you to the Infirmary—you're looking even worse."

Infirmary was the last place Seifer personally wanted to visit; however, this time, it was for Zell's sake. He disliked the smell of Ether that Dr. Kadowaki always used, and he always felt that being nursed made him look helpless and weak—and he disliked that imagery, of course. Seifer was one of very few people who distinctively split things into what he liked and what he disliked, and he would do almost anything to get rid of things he hated, or avoid them if nothing else worked while take very good care of things he liked—he was very seldom apathetic. For this nature had he suffered.

"The medicine should cure the fever, but if you don't start watching your eating habit and take a sufficient amount of rest everyday, you'll be sick again soon enough," said Dr. Kadowaki. "Seifer, would you help me remind him to do so—you may use force if necessary."

"Sure," said Seifer, smirking at Zell. "You hear that, Zell? Say hello to Mr. Salad, Mrs. Soup, Mrs. Rice, and bye to wretched hot dogs."

"Oh, come on!" grumbled Zell, elbowing Seifer irritatedly.

"Okay, you may go now."

They left the Infirmary and went to the Dormitory

"It's already eight-forty. Why don't you go straightaway to the classroom? I'll go get your stuff."

"I'm feeling ungainly of my body." It was then that Zell started to convulse. His head was dizzy, and he felt slightly nauseous. He almost fell down if Seifer were not there to catch him.

"What did Dr. Kadowaki put in your medicine? Whatever it was, I'll bring you back to the Infirmary. I'll inform the faculty that you're sick."

Seifer carried Zell to the Infirmary while other cadets round watched the scene in awe—no matter how much they had seen Seifer and Zell together, it never ceased to amaze them to see a pair that were always over each other's throat became the best of friends today, not to mention rumors about them being a gay couple had been hot around the Garden—a cadet with initials MP had asked on the message board if they were a gay couple, and Xu replied, stating vehemently that they were only friends, and told the cadet to mind his own business. Seifer could not care any less.

"He suddenly collapsed. What did you give him?" asked Seifer.

"It was just an aspirin. Did he eat anything unusual?" asked Dr. Kadowaki.

"No, he ate one hot dog and drank orange juice," mused Seifer. "Maybe it's the terrifying sight he had just seen—a pillaged body of a dead cadet inside Training Center."

"Probably. His temperature is very high. Put him in the bed there. I'll give him a stronger antipyretic drug and see if he gets better," said Dr. Kadowaki, motioning Seifer to put Zell in one of the beds.

"I'll inform the faculty that he's sick now. Please take care of Zell," said Seifer, done moving Zell. "I'll check on him again after class."

Seifer was on his way to the elevator when he saw Squall amble about on the front of Quad, looking like trying to find something.

"What are you looking for?" asked Seifer.

Squall was hesitant to answer. "Rinoa's earring."

"What?" Seifer looked at Squall and laughed. "Might as well hire SeeDs to form a search squad—what do you think?"

"Mind your own business, Seifer," said Squall, knowing this would happen.

"Right, I have something to tell you: Zell's sick and is resting in Infirmary."

"How serious?" asked Squall, still scanning his surrounding.

"He collapsed—he insisted to teach but collapsed on the way to the classroom," said Seifer, somehow followed Squall scanning his surrounding.

"I don't think there's a free instructor to substitute Zell. Would you go and inform the students that the class is suspended?"

"Wait—if it won't give you a heart attack, I could substitute Zell," said Seifer, aware that he himself was beating around the bush. "I know the materials well."

Squall paused and looked at Seifer, not sure what to expect. "But can you teach?"

"I can lie very well... and I'm used to improvising," answered Seifer, eyes fixed upon Squall's looks.

Squall cast about; then judged best simply to let Seifer attempt. "I've seen that. Well, it's almost nine—if you want to get on with it, go to the classroom immediately. I'll inform the faculty later," said Squall, now his attention returned to his surrounding.

"Alright," said Seifer. "And... thank you."

With that, Seifer left Squall to his classroom on the second story.

"Be seated," said Seifer, seeing that all of the students had gathered. He could hear many of the students inform other students what they saw in front of the Infirmary, and they knew that their instructor was sick—some of them did not hesitate to shout the shout of joy. "Due to sickness, our Instructor Zell cannot attend the class and is resting in Infirmary; and therefore, Commander Squall has appointed me to substitute him for the time being, to teach you."

"Aw, shucks!" one of the students exclaimed. Others followed suit.

"Be quiet, if you please!" hollered Seifer in a loud but dignified voice.

They were immediately silent. They had Seifer's image as a blood-thirsty villain or some sort embossed on their minds. As much as they hated to admit, they knew very well Seifer alone could take the entire students in the classroom combined together down.

One of the students dared to raise his hand.

"You may speak," said Seifer to aforementioned student.

"Out of curiosity, knowing well we hate you, why did you agree to teach us in the first place?" asked him in his small voice.

"You're very direct," said Seifer, smiling. He found this kind of person, the kind that could speak his mind freely admirable. "The answer to your question would necessitate me to tell you a bit about my past first—it would be long. Are you still interested to find out?"

The student looked to his seatmate on his left, then to the classmates on the right.

"Fine by me," said his seatmate.

"Sounds interesting, why don't we give it a try?" spoken another student.

"Then it's settled—we wanna hear your story."

"Very well," said Seifer, his mind rushed to form a Seifer from years back. "Together with my orphanage gang members: Commander Squall, Instructor Zell, Instructor Quistis, Irvine, and Selphie, we were raised in one of what had become nothing but dull isles, in Centra continent, by a person we called Matron, whom you probably know today as Sorceress Edea. I used to dream of conquering the world and all I wanted was power, until one day Matron read us a story about Sorceresses and their knights—she pictured knights as brave men who devoted all of their lives to protect the Sorceresses, the Hyne's Descendants. Thus I realized how shallow my dream was, or should I say inferior, cheap even, compared to what the Sorceress' knights had done. The existences of the knights remained still in the Sorceresses' hearts, shared the same plight of being despised by all human beings. One has to choose his dream, and I chose to become a Sorceress' knight."

At this point, Blake had started imagining of having a knight, only to be surprised at the fact he would hear soon enough.

"At the age of eighteen, I had started to lose my confidence as staying in this Garden did not at all help me in finding any Sorceresses. It was until I ran into Sorceress Edea, whom I didn't know was actually our Matron. She offered me a chance to fulfill my dream—she offered me to become her knight. I knew from the beginning what kind of path I would end up walking across, how evil she was, possessed by Sorceress Ultimecia. And afterwards, as you know, I helped her realize her plans by taking over Galbadia Garden, destroying Trabia Garden, and initiated a direct war against this Garden. How many lives I sacrificed to fulfill my dream—it costs a lot to fulfill your dream, and one can't be stingy with these things. To create something, someone must be willing to sacrifice. And the bigger the scale, the amount of sacrifice will be proportionally comparable. Zell once retorted with 'but, it doesn't mean that you should sacrifice yourself, does it?' And I told him that it was my own decision, that the Sorceress' plans would come true regardless of my existence, that it had always been my dream to become one, that if I didn't stand out as her knight, everyone involved in the plan would be an object for the society to blame and despise, and also that he needn't feel sorry for me."

"Well, I don't encourage you to commit such things. Back to the story; after Time Compression, I decided to settle in Winhill, knowing well I had fulfilled my dream and wanted to live a quiet life killing monsters and just waited for the ball to come. One day, I met Zell again. Once again we conversed about that topic, and he told me that if he were I, he would try to find a way so that everyone would stay alive and not become an object for the society to blame... and that he wanted to prove his words. And he did. He convinced Commander Squall to bring the entire Garden to Winhill under the guise of letting students gain more knowledge in foreign monsters, which actually was a plan to show you all how nonthreatening I had become," said Seifer, chuckling.

The same student raised his hand again, but did not bother to wait for Seifer's permission before asking, "So you're a gay couple?"

"Well, you don't normally pull a conservative straight like me and he turns out to be a queer. But we did have a history of getting to know each other, although as much as I hate being referred to as a homosexual man—I'm normally not attracted to same sex—Zell is an exception, and as much as I hate being referred to as one, I haven't found a better term to define it—you may tell me if you have. So, yes, we're a gay couple," said Seifer, laughing.

"That's so cool!" exclaimed the student.

Seifer continued laughing for a bit before he regained his composure and continued his story.

"Back to the story; he convinced the faculty to let me get back in as a student. And so I thought, the least thing I could do for Zell was to be by his side, to take care of him, and by not being the badass that I was. Along the way, I found myself interested at teaching. I have to admit I've many times imagined how romantic it'd be to teach with Zell, and we'd be known as 'Zell and Seifer', the hot instructor couple or some sort. I am here to prove that I can teach, to you and to myself, and I do hope that you will cooperate. So, as I said, it costs a lot to fulfill your dream, and one can't be stingy with these things."

Everyone in the classroom applauded Seifer and had a big grin in the face. Everyone but Blake. It never occurred to Blake that someone he had always wanted to kill had always been right in front of him, in the same classroom, in the same Garden. He had an enormous urge to kill Seifer right away, but thrift put paid to that idea. He knew very well he would not survive a head-to-head fight against Seifer without using his sorcery power, which he obviously did not want others to know about.

"So, on to the subject," spoke Seifer, opening Zell's Kyle Marx's Guide to Magic Drawing – For Teachers book.

The rest of the class went smooth and Seifer proved to be a decent teacher. He headed off to Infirmary straightaway after the class, prepared to tell Zell what he just experienced.

He saw Zell sit on a chair, talking to Dr. Kadowaki who was busy checking her patient records, reeking of Ether.

"I've heard from Squall you're substituting me teaching. From your look, it went well?" asked Zell, jumping off his seat.

Seifer answered the question with a sneer. "You seem to be well."

"You could get a hot dog with that sneer. Yeah, doc said it was food poisoning—something in the hot dog was expired. Once she found out the problem, she gave me another prescription, and the medicine worked well."

"Are you hungry? I'm a little hungry myself. What do you say we have a wander out in Balamb town in a bit and get some hot food and a few cold drinks?" asked Seifer.

"It's hard to beat that," said Zell enthusiastically.

"Come along then," said Seifer. "Oh, by the way, I've somehow told everyone in the class that we're a gay couple. I hope you don't—"

"I don't mind," Zell looked at Seifer and smiled amicably. "You're a show-off to begin with, after all."

"Whatever, shortarse," Seifer chuckled. "Now, why don't you get your ass up and walk already!"

"You forgot the magic word," said Zell, grinning at Seifer, his eyes aglow with love.

Seifer offered his hand and murmured the magic word, "Please."

They were not aware there sat an awestruck doctor, unable to come in terms with what she saw and heard, nose pinched and lips pursed.


End file.
